I keep my grammar well rehearsed...

Last Friday I had the wonderful opportunity to join some former colleagues/current friends for lunch. It was my first experience with Indian food, which proved to be interesting. My special thanks go to Nick for showing me the way of such ethnic meals. (At this point, it would be appropriate to also give a shout out to Dan, Luke, and Jeremy in thanks for a nice time - not that any of them read this.)

These guys are all analysts, so as I'm sure you can imagine, there were several interesting points of conversation throughout the meal. The most noteworthy of which had to be the heated debate on contemporary language, specifically the phenomenon known as "textspeak." I happen to be ANTI "textspeak." When I text, I tend to spell words completely and use mostly complete sentences. There are few exceptions. I also have very little patience in "textversations" with people who use text abbreviations, especially "u" for "you" and "r" for "are." In fact, I've taken to just disregarding most texts that use those abbreviations. I simply ignore them. No response.

Dan and Jeremy both agreed that they also spell words completely in their texts, whereas Luke was the leader of the "textspeak" argument. Dan, of course, played plenty of Devil's (read: "textspeak") advocate though. All of this leads me to the argument Luke (and Dan) made for "textspeak."

The argument: "Language is always changing and evolving. By using abbreviations, we are able to communicate more efficiently. We don't communicate the same way people did 100 years ago, and 100 years from now we will be communicating differently."

My thoughts: While this is a seemingly valid point, it doesn't cover all the problems that I have with "textspeak." Here are a few issues:
1. "Textspeak" is still not used in a professional atmosphere. This alone should speak to the not only informal, but also uneducated feel it has.
2. Anytime you shorten or simplify language, you take away some of its meaning. This creates more ambiguity and less clarity in messages.
3. Come on, it just looks AND sounds (or reads, I guess) ignorant. Besides, how much space do you really save by shortening two and three letter words? I'm okay with acronyms for longer phrases and even occasionally "bc" for "because" if a lack of space warrants the use.
4. Do we really want to keep "dumbing down" our diction? Is this really the direction we want society to be moving? Think about it. How will we be represented through our communications? "OMG, ur so funny. L8R." Gross.

That's all. I'll step down from my soap box now.

something the prince never knew

If anyone ever wonders why I'm not married yet, I think that this email (received from my stepdad, Terry, last summer in regards to gentlemen suitors) can offer some insight.


It reads:

You know brown nosing doesn’t work with me!

Yes, I was bad last night but you have experienced my poor behavior before. No, my attitude towards certain items doesn’t change and when my mind is made up it stays that way! However, in this case and with consultation with my advisor I may reconsider this matter given the proper materials. They are:

1. Life resume
2. Documentation showing ancestory with Iowa roots
3. Documentation showing college participation in athletics
4. Life goals
5. Personality testing—you don’t want to end up with someone like me!
6. Parental background and quirks

When that package is presented, I will scour the data to determine if my mind can be changed to allow for more than limited conversation.

Love ya

So, good luck to me on that.

Get out of my dreams...

...get into my hot pink minivan?

Seriously, where can I get one of these?


Sorry - it's not the best shot. I had to be sneaky and the van was moving. Apparently people find it creepy if you randomly take pictures of them inside their vehicles with your cell phone. I've done worse.

A fool for another day...

Not me!

If anyone needs me, I'll be over here, celebrating what appears to be another FOUR POINT OH semester of grad school. I win again! Win!



Oh stop whining. I can brag about this. School is the only thing I'm good at and if it boosts my confidence then I should be allowed to share it with the world. I will shout it from the mountains. FOUR. POINT. OH.

The book of love has music in it.

Thanks to the season finale of Scrubs, I think I know what song I want for my first dance with my future husband. Nice choice, Zach Braff. That show always has had a way of getting to me.

Cool. Now I've got to go wash off the eye makeup that coincidentally is now streaming down my face. Have a great Friday.

We bottle and shelf all our regrets, let them ferment and get back to our senses.

Tomorrow night, anytime after 9pm, if you are with me and truly consider yourself to be my friend, you will straight up tackle me if you see me reach for my cell phone. There are no exceptions.

That is all.

I've got a hunger twisting my stomach into knots

Let me tell you something about myself: